Overvoltage & Protection in AC and DC System

Abstract-When the voltage in a circuit or part of it is raised above its upper design limit, the condition experienced is known as overvoltage. Electronic and electrical devices are designed to operate at a certain maximum supply voltage, and considerable damage can be caused by voltage that is higher than that for which the devices are rated. Overvoltages are designated as transient voltages. This means that they are short-lived, temporary oscillations.

THE IMPORTANCE PROTECTION

OF

OVERVOLTAGE

Overvoltage protection of power distribution equipment along with over current protection is one of the very important criteria for a reliable power distribution system. It has been proven over the years to be one of the major causes of plant shutdown and equipment failure. Since the cumulative destructive effect of transient overvoltage to equipment insulation over a period of time cannot be monitored easily, the appropriate surge overvoltage protection devices and methods should be applied to divert surge voltage and associate energy away from the equipment. CAUSES AND NATURE Main cause of overvoltage is effect of lighting and switching and causes other than these two are related to causes like voltage regulation, load shedding, ferroresonance, amplification of harmonic voltages, current due to resonance, ground faults , ground limiting fuse arc, high voltage lines touching low voltage system and surges due to rise in station ground potential. Source of origin interrelated with system components determine whether the surge is transient, temporary, or sustained

LIGHTNING SURGES Lightning overvoltages can be divided into 1)direct strokes and 2)those induced by nearby strokes to ground or between clouds. The direct strokes (lightning strikes on the equipment or a connection that is connected directly to the same) generally have a high voltage rise (100010000KV/us) and high peak current values(1200KA) Effect of these are extremely severe .Induced strokes produce lower overvoltages (20 to 100 kV) and a discharge current around 2kA or less..Indirect strokes produce lightning causes travelling waves that travel at speed of 1/LC in the system .A lighting induced current wave(I)and voltage wave (E) are related by E=IZ0 where Z0=1/(L/C) is surge impedances. SWITCHING SURGES Switching operations that causes overvoltages are mainly due to trapped energy in parts of the circuit and the subsequent release of that energy. Some of the main configurations that causes overvoltages are given below. i)Inductive Current Chopping: Fast interrupting devices used nowadays are capable of interrupting low levels of currents prior to actual current zero ie current chopping which can lead to an abnormal overvoltage due to the magnetic energy associated with the trapped current in the circuit with inherent inductance. An example would be switching of the magnetising current of an unloaded transformer. The energy trapped in the transformer magnetizing inductance Lm which is transferred to circuit capacitance C producing voltage surge. Theoretical magnitude = Vs =I0(Lm/C) Vs = peak surge voltage I0 = peak chopped current The actual surge voltage is 25 to 40% of this value due to eddy currents in transformer core and other losses. It has been be noted that potential danger from current chopping tends to diminishes as the voltage class of the transformer increases .Motors also are affected similiarly but generally their surge impedence and so overvoltage is lower compared to transformer of equal size.

ii)Transformer And Cable Unit Switching Overvoltage:Overvoltage due to resonance may result when a lightly loaded or unloaded transformer with a long cable connection is a remotely switched system configuration .

Systems resonance frequency fr = 1/(2 (LC)) L = system equivalent inductance C= capacitance The magnitude of overvoltage may or may not exceed two times the system voltage; however surge arrester thermal capability needs to be checked as voltage may sustain for a longer period of time. iii)Capacitor Switching: When a capacitor bank is energized or deenergized, overvoltages are produced by any of the following or its combinations: restrike during capacitor-bank interruption prestrike during capacitor bank energization capacitor switching transient voltage magnification by resonance condition in the system switching on the capacitor with residual voltage from previous charge The above operations may develop dangerous overvoltages to the system. Under certain conditions, multiple restrikes may occur and surge suppressor must have the capability of absorbing the energy associated with it. iv)Current Limiting Fuses Arc Voltage: Current limiting fuse arc voltage may be related to system inductance, voltage, rapid change of current as follows E= e +Ldi/dt E= arc voltage e=system normal voltage L=system total inductance di/dt= rate of change of fault current Maximum arc voltage depends upon the fuse element construction and may not have a definite relationship to the available fault current.Arrester back voltage is usually around 0.855 times the manufacturers published discharge voltage values. v)Ferroresonance: Series resonance involving capacitance of the cable and nonlinear inductance of delta connected transformer can result in dynamic overvoltage during hung pole situation of one phase of primary switching device.It can occur when an unloaded 3 phase system consisting mainly of inductors and capacitor elements is interrupted by single phase means.It can be prevented from occurring by adding a minimal resistance on transformer secondarys or by

interrupting applied voltage by 3 phase interrupting device like a ganged circuit breaker. Equation of voltage produced across inductive element VL =(V^2 (IR)^2) + 1/wC V= total voltage R & C= resistance and capacitance in circuit vi)Nonlinear Load and Capacitor Bank: Overvoltage will develop due to parallel resonance if any harmonic current frequency generated by nonlinear load falls near resonance frequency of the parallel combination of the system inductance and capacitance. SWITCHING SURGE ENERGY The amount of energy to be expected in a switching surge cannot be found out exactly because of the fact that the surge parameters are not precise, and can change with system configuration. The knowledge of system inductance (L) and maximum rms value of current (I) at the time of switching can provide an estimate of energy trapped in the system as follows: W=.5LI^2 where W= energy (j) L= inductance(H) I= rms value of current(A) Similarly because of system capacitance C energy can be calculated as W= .5CV^2 Where, V= rms value of voltage Surge energy can be calculated by the expression

Where, dv/dt = rate of rise of voltage surge di/dt = rate of rise of current surge di/dt = (1/Z0)(dv/dt) t = time for surge to reach sparkover voltage V = arrester sparkover voltage I = peak discharge current If the surge energy is excessive, the capacitor voltage will be high and both capacitor as well as equipment will be stressed. To avoid this situation surge arresters are connected parallel with the capacitors.

DC SYSTEM OVERVOLTAGE AND SURGE PROTECTION The application of DC systems has increased rapidly in the recent years. Besides established low voltage DC power applications which mainly include PV-systems, battery powered DC supplies, railway systems, telecommunications etc numerous new applications have shown up. Due to these development the requirements on overvoltage and surge protection in DC applications have increased. Also HVDC transmission systems are now getting more popular thanks to their low power losses and fast controllability of power in DC lines. CAUSES OF OVERVOLTAGE AND SURGE IN DC SYSTEMS The most important reasons of transient overvoltage injected to the power distribution system of DC electrified railway are: -DC circuit breaker operation can cause overvoltages of 2.5 times the system nominal voltage. -Uneven pantograph contact can also result in arcs and overvoltages in the overhead contact system. - Vacuum circuit breaker operation can also result in overvoltages in the power system of electrified railway -Direct lightning or heavy lightning in the neighborhood or even heavily charged clouds in the sky above the overhead contact system of the railway can result in overvoltages in this system. - Loose connection of the electrical equipment. - Current limiting fuses applied as protection devices in traction substation . - The voltage transients due to dv/dt across the diodes of the rectifier units in traction substation can also result in overvoltages in the power system. Causes for surges in PV systems are inductive or capacitive voltages deriving from lightning discharges, as well as lightning surges and switching operations in the upstream power supply system.

From the diagram U=Ldi/dt + Ri + Ua Where U is the supply voltage from the source L & R is the inductance and resistance of the circuit and Ua is the arc voltage. Ldi/dt = U Ri Ua Therefore the necessary condition for arc extinction is di/dt < 0 The dc current is interrupted only when the total sum of voltage drop due to resistance and the arc voltage is greater than the driving voltage U across the entire range up to i = 0.Also extinction time is proportional to time constant(T) of the circuit. A high L value in the circuit will lead to long break time as T = L/R. Another criterion while choosing dc overvoltage protection is the source characteristics. All dc systems do not have the same source characteristics.

SWITCHING OF DC CURRENTS The most important difference between DC and AC applications is the natural current zero in DC systems. As shown the figure below ac pass through zero at each half cycle. No such natural zero passage is there in dc.

A conventional dc source has a linear behaviour .They act like a constant current source . It has been found that energy dissipated while switching a device installed at the dc side of a pv generator is about double compared to a conventional DC source at al identical break time. The reason lays in the current characteristics of these sources. For a Pv generator current remains almost constant while arc voltage across the switch increases. In the case of battery powered DC source which is used as emergency power supplies the charging voltage may be significantly higher than the nominal system voltage

COMPONENTS PROTECTION

FOR

OVERVOLTAGE

A variety of components whose different physical methods of operation complement each other are used and each of these possess distinct protective effects. This is because super-fast reaction time, high current-carrying capacity, low residual voltage and long service life cannot be found in one single component. Basically three principal components used are: 1. sparkover gaps 2. varistors 3. suppression diodes 1) Sparkover gaps In these devices high voltages are discharged to earth via a spark gap. The discharge capacity of sparkover gaps is very high up to 100 kA. Gas sparkover gaps are incorporated in insulating glass or ceramic (aluminium oxide) housings. The electrodes of the sparkover gap are made from a special alloy and placed in housings which are vacuum sealed and filled with a noble gas such as argon or neon. The shape and spacing of the electrodes of the sparkover gap are such that the applied voltage results in a field strength distribution which has a fairly exact voltage for firing the sparkover gap. Bipolar operation is typical of sparkover gaps. This firing voltage value depends, however, on the steepness of the applied overvoltage. Another plus point is that response time shortens as the overvoltage rise becomes steeper. The firing voltage is thus correspondingly higher. The outcome of this is that with very steep overvoltage rises, the firing voltage i.e. the protection level is relatively high and can lie considerably higher than the rated voltage of the sparkover gap. Behaviour of the fired sparkover gap is a disadvantage. The arc has a very low voltage and is only extinguished when the value drops below this. Therefore, when designing the geometry of a sparkover gap, care is taken to ensure that through long distances and also through cooling the voltage of the arc remains as high as possible and so is quenched relatively quickly. Nevertheless, a longer follow current can ensue. This can draw its energy, in addition, from the incoming supply of the circuit to be protected. One effective solution is to wire a sparkover gap and a fast-acting fusible link in series. 2)Varistors The varistors used in overvoltage protection (MOV Metal Oxide Varistor) are voltage-dependent resistors in the form of discs of zinc oxide. Just above their rated voltage the resistance becomes so small that they become conductive. The overvoltage is limited by the varistor allowing the

current to pass. Bipolar operation is typical of varistors. Varistors have a medium to high discharge capacity; this lies in the region of 40-80 kA. The response time is less than 25 ns. Residual voltages are significantly lower than those of sparkover gaps. The lower protection level achieves better overvoltage protection and no power follow currents are drawn from the power supply. However, varistors also have their disadvantages their ageing phenomena and relatively high capacitance. Leakage currents occur over time, depending on the frequency of the triggering, because individual resistance elements break down. This can cause temperature rise or even destroy them completely. The high capacitance of varistors causes problems in circuits with high frequencies. Attenuation of the signals must be reckoned with for frequencies above about 100 kHz. Therefore, varistors are not recommended for use in data transmission systems. 3)Suppression Diodes A suppression diode operates in a similar manner to a Zener diode. They can be divided into unidirectional and bidirectional The unidirectional suppression diode is often used in d.c. circuits. Compared to conventional Zener diodes, suppressiondiodes have a higher current-carrying capacity and are considerably faster. They very quickly become conductive above a defined breakdown voltage and hence short-circuit the overvoltage. However, their current-carrying capacity is not very high less than 1800 W/ms. On the other hand, they exhibit an extremely fast response time, lying in the picoseconds range. And the low protection level of suppression diodes is another advantage. Unfortunately, suppression diodes possess a significant inherent capacitance. Therefore, like with varistors, their possible attenuation effect on high frequencies must be taken into account.

REFERENCE 1)Overvoltage and surge protection in dc system by Birkl, Zahlmann 2)Power distribution system equipment overvoltage protection by Dev Paul and Srinivasa Venugopalan 3)Electrical Transcients in Power System by Allan Greenwood 4)http://www04.abb.com/global/seitp/seitp202.nsf/ 0/6b16aa3f34983211c125761f004fd7f9/$file/Vol.5 .pdf